Bitcoin mining hurts the climate, Chinese court says
China is continuing to crack down on cryptocurrency.
A court in China cited the climate toll of cryptocurrency when it affirmed a ruling striking down a bitcoin mining contract. According to the decision, released earlier this month, the emissions generated by bitcoin mining exacerbate climate change and are incompatible with the country’s goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2060.
Bitcoin mining is an energy-intensive process that uses many computers to verify transactions to its digital legers. According to Climate Home News, the case in question involved a disputed business contract in which one company sued another over its alleged failure to mine all the bitcoin it had promised. But the lawsuit was rejected by a lower court, which deemed the contract was invalid because it harmed the public interest. That decision was upheld by the Beijing Third Intermediate People’s Court.
“Judging from the high energy consumption of ‘mining’ and the impact of bitcoin trading activities on the country’s financial and social order, the contract involved should be invalid,” the court ruled.
The decision follows previous actions the Chinese government has taken to crack down on cryptocurrency. Last year, the People’s Bank of China made all cryptocurrency transactions illegal, saying that they posed a serious danger to “the safety of people’s assets.” The government has also ordered a stop to bitcoin mining in Sichuan province, where cheap electricity from hydropower had attracted many cryptocurrency operations.
Although the crackdown has caused China’s cryptocurrency-related energy use to plummet, it’s not clear that this is a net win for the climate. Recent research suggests that bitcoin miners have simply moved out of the country to places where coal or natural gas are the primary energy source, driving up global cryptocurrency-mining emissions. Read original full article
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Atlantis Viewpoint
We keep seeing this again and again, strange side tangents that sound like they will be effective in reducing pollution and carbon emissions but in fact are only what seem to be a distraction to make it sound like governments or companies are making the right changes.
Cryptocurrency has come under increased pressure as it is an energy-intensive process. By as we have kept saying here at Atlantis, access to energy is not our problem. We have unlimited huge amounts of clean energy that we can absorb, store and transport to where it is needed.
Of course, if we are burning fossil fuels for our new innovations then of course that is not good for our air quality, our environment and our planet. We could stop doing everything until this is solved, no driving cars, no power to our houses or businesses. That would speed up the transition process! But would be devastating for society around the world.
So how about we stop telling people not to do things and start changing our electrical power sources and how we fuel our cars. If we converted those two massive areas with the technology we already have, all of our global emission targets would be surpassed by miles.
We have the technology, we have the resources, let’s make this change happen now.
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